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Encyclopedia > Data file

A data file is a computer file which stores data for use by a computer application or system. It generally does not refer to files that contain instructions or code to be executed (typically called program files), or to files which define the operation or structure of an application or system (which include configuration files, directory files, etc.); but specifically to information used as input, and/or written as output by some other software program. A computer file is a collection of information that is stored in a computer system and can be identified and referenced in its entirety by a unique name. ... Application software is a loosely defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. ... System software is a generic term referring to any computer software whose purpose is to help run the computer system. ...


Data files come in two broad categories: open and closed.

Contents


Closed data file formats

Closed data (frequently referred to as proprietary format files) files have their metadata data elements hidden, obsured or unavailalbe to users of the file. Application developers do this to discourage users from tampering or corrupting with the data files or importing the data into a competitors application. Metadata (Greek: meta- + Latin: data information), literally data about data, are information about another set of data. ... In metadata, the term data element is an atomic unit of data that has: an identification such as a Data element name a clear Data element definition one or more Representation terms optional enumerated values In telecommunication, the term data element has the following components: A named unit of data...


Open data file formats

Open data files have their the their internal structures available to users of the through a process of metadata publishing. Metadata publishing implies that the structure and semantics of all the possible data elements within a file are availalbe to users. Metadata publishing is the process of making metadata Data elements available to external users, both people and machines. ... In the main, semantics (from the Greek and in greek letters σημαντικός or in latin letters semantikos, or significant meaning, derived from sema, sign) is the study of meaning, in some sense of that term. ...


Examples of open data files include XML formats such as HTML for storing web pages or SVG for storing scalable graphics. A piece of HTML code with syntax highlighting In computing, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser. ... Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML markup language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and animated. ...


Binary and ASCII data file formats

Data files are frequently stored in binary or ASCII file formats. ASCII file formats can usually be inspected a modified with an appropriate text or word-processor. For other uses, see ASCII (disambiguation). ...


Binary files are usually not editable with a text or word processor.


Note that binary file formats are not necessarily closed. Some application vendors store data in a compressed file structure.


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
GrADS Data Descriptor File (4351 words)
Although HDF-SDS files are self-describing and may be read automatically using the sdfopen/xdfopen commands, this DTYPE gives you the option of overriding the file's own metadata and creating a descriptor file for some or all of the variables in the file.
Although NetCDF files are self-describing and may be read automatically using the sdfopen/xdfopen commands, this DTYPE gives you the option of overriding the file's own metadata and creating a descriptor file for some or all of the variables in the file.
This facilitates moving data files and their descriptor files between machines; the data may be used on any type of hardware without having to worry about byte ordering.
Audio Data and File Types (1658 words)
A number of audio data and file types exist in the industry today, making it difficult for audio files to be shared in a heterogeneous environment.
However, we recommend using a file format with a header whenever possible because the attributes of the audio data cannot be determined from the samples themselves.
If you know that a raw data file should be played at a particular sample rate then you can specify the sample rate in the filename extension as described later in "Adding a filename extension to a raw audio data file ".
  More results at FactBites »


 

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